1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drawing tool, and more particularly to a template for ruling index cards by marking lines at set or ruled distances on a 3″×5″ index card.
2. Description of the Related Art
Those who have ever tried to write down information on an unlined surface know the problems of trying to keep written information neat. For example, when writing one's name and address on an unruled postcard, the text can start off being written in straight lines and then suddenly become slanted or crooked.
Information written in crooked lines, or which is just messy, can cause a reader trouble when reading the postcard, and will probably cause delay in mailing items if the post office is unable to decipher the mailing address. A number of items have been developed that guide a writing instrument or a cutting instrument in making marks, letters and/or cuts, respectively, on a surface.
Although some manufacturers make index cards with pre-printed, ruled lines, the lines are standardized. A template or templates for creating a customized ruled index card, including a ruled grid, in order to aid in preparing a neatly printed 3″×5″ index card would be desirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,939,588, issued to Hockaday on Feb. 24, 1976, describes a lettering guide apparatus having a number of releasable adhesive-mounted parallel strips that can be peeled off to expose a writing surface. The strips that remain intact provide guides for writing information in straight lines. U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,118, issued to Beitler on Oct. 1, 1991, describes a template for laying out cut lines in mats used for framing pictures, prints, stamps, etc. The template has a number of holes to insert a pen or pencil to make hole marks on a drawing surface. The holes are then connected to form straight lines.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,399, issued to Kragt on May 29, 1990, describes a marking template. The template is made from cardboard and has slots and holes for positioning a pen or pencil to make holes and compound angle marks for cutting and drilling into material. U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,767, issued to Houston on Dec. 4, 2001, describes a leveling card that can also be used as a template for tracing or drawing straight lines.
Templates that assist the user in drawing letters are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,011, issued to Anderka on Mar. 20, 1973 (a transparent template having a number of openings shaped into letters for drawing letters), and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,392, issued to Berkman on Jan. 29, 1980 (a drawing template for drawing large letters having a plurality of linear and non-linear slots).
Drawing templates are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,330, issued to Konrad on Aug. 25, 1987 (a template for drawing ellipses that uses holders to permit the user to move the template around without having to use pins to hold the template in place); U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,240 issued to Nelson et al. on May 29, 2001 (a template for stenciling borders and corners having four edges each having its own design pattern to trace or cut a design); and U.S. Pat. No. 6,351,893, issued to St. Pierre on Mar. 5, 2002 (a plastic drawing template having openings that relate to traffic symbols for diagramming traffic intersections and accident scenes).
Templates used to draw figures, lines or circles are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,633,286, issued to Maurer on Jan. 11, 1972 (transparent flat stencil having openings or imprints or molded outlines of toy figures on its surface to outline the figure); U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,285, issued to Morita et al. on Oct. 22, 1991 (a template for drawing a number of concentric figures in exact alignment with each other); U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,502, issued to Jones on Jun. 30, 1981 (a drafting device for drawing concentric lines); U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,964, issued to McKay on Jan. 31, 1995 (a rotating circle template used to draw various sizes of circles); German Patent Number 3,106,176 published on Sep. 9, 1982 (ruler for drawing lines and/or measuring, cutting and laying templates); and German Patent Number 19,833,999 published on Jul. 3, 2000 (drawing and measuring template).
Several templates have been developed for drawing perspective lines and figures that are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,041, issued to Keeney on Mar. 19, 1985 (a drafting template having non-concentric elliptical patterns permits perspective drawing to show scale and proportions in designing rooms, buildings, etc.); U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,130 issued to Rank on Mar. 19, 2002 (a drafting template for drawing axonometric drawings); British Patent Number 2,088,288 published on Jun. 9, 1982 (a perspective drawing template having parts that slide along circular guide surfaces and reference lines to draw lines); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,724, issued to Hankins on Sep. 20, 1994 (a transparent and inscribed cropping template having apertures that align with each other to easily crop material).
Templates used for making or cutting articles are described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/01655076, published on Nov. 7, 2002 (a thin transparent template for making an envelope blank that can be sized specifically to enclose an item); U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,551, issued to Kearns et al. on May 6, 1997 (a greeting card manufacturing kit having templates to assist one in making cards or envelopes); and U.S. Patent Publication number 2001/0032394, published on Oct. 25, 2001 to Cross et al. (an estimating device used to measure the amount of material needed from a roll of floor covering to cover an area of a room).
Still other templates used in making garments or quilts are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,798,781, issued to Wolfe on Mar. 26, 1974 (a template for making back trouser pockets); U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,533 issued to Vouyouka on Nov. 5, 1996 (a pattern-grading template for grading of every part of a garment used in the mass production of garments); U.S. Pat. No. 6,539,636, issued to Jennings on Apr. 1, 2003 (a circular and transparent garment pattern-sizing template having a center point and a number of grids for marking a pattern piece underneath); U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,062, issued to Walker on Aug. 11, 1998 (a flat transparent quilting template having straight and arcuate edge portions for guiding a cutting tool and being marked with straight guide lines to assist in aligning the template with fabric).
Technical Drawing, Giesecke et al., published in 1974 by Macmillan Publishing Co, Inc., at pp. 70-77, describes the process of drawing guide lines for ensuring uniform vertical and horizontal spacing of letters, as well as uniform letter size. Giesecke et al. describe the use of a Braddock-Rowe Lettering Triangle (a triangle having columns of grouped holes at predetermined distances from the hypotenuse for desired letter size) and an Ames Lettering Guide (device with a rotatable circle mounted on a frame having an orthogonal edge and a slanted edge, the circle having indexed columns of holes for drawing guide lines of predetermined spacing) for drawing grid lines which provide uniform blocks defining letter size and spacing. Both of these devices must be moved along a T-square or other straight edge when drawing the guidelines.
There have been other attempts to provide a template for various purposes, e.g., German Patent Number 3,232 420, published Mar. 1, 1984, that discloses a template for lottery tickets; German Patent Number 4,111,412, published Oct. 15, 1992, also disclosing a template for lottery tickets; and Japanese Patent Number 6-328,874, published Nov. 29, 1994, which discloses the use of two stencil papers for application of images to postcards.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a template for ruling index cards solving the aforementioned problems is desired.